Mass migration panic in rural Japan after symbolic Africa ties mistranslated

Angry residents have bombarded city halls with calls and emails, fearing their hometowns were being ‘given away’ to African migrants

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Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shakes hands with Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo on the sidelines of the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) on Friday. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 28 Aug 2025

What was meant as a symbolic gesture of friendship at an international summit has snowballed into a national panic in Japan, after false reports circulating in Africa and online suggested that new visa schemes would allow large numbers of migrants to settle in the country.

In just a few days, a mistranslated phrase, an overzealous government statement and a flurry of social media posts turned a modest cultural exchange programme into a heated immigration controversy.

The confusion stemmed from the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, held in Yokohama from Wednesday to Friday last week.

During the summit, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced that four cities – Nagai in Yamagata prefecture, Sanjo in Niigata, Kisarazu in Chiba, and Imabari in Ehime – would be designated as symbolic “hometowns” for partner countries Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria and Mozambique.

A worker at a sawmill in Nigeria. The country’s government had incorrectly claimed that Japan was creating a special visa category for young Nigerian blue-collar workers. Photo: Reuters

The initiative was intended as a gesture to reinforce existing cultural and educational ties. But officials and media in several African countries misinterpreted the scheme, with Nigeria’s government issuing a statement on Friday that incorrectly claimed Japan was creating a new visa category allowing young Nigerians to “live and work” in Kisarazu. The statement promised that “artisans and other blue-collar workers from Nigeria who are ready to upskill will also benefit from the special dispensation visa”.

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